Kashmir insurgency
Topic: Regional Aspirations: J&K, Punjab, the North-East and Accommodation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 7 "Regional Aspirations"
Meaning
The Kashmir insurgency is the armed movement that began in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989. Its aim was a separate Kashmiri nation, and Pakistan gave it moral, material and military support. Its immediate cause was anger at a democratic deficit. The 1987 assembly election was widely believed to be rigged, and many Kashmiris felt Delhi kept interfering in the state's politics. The insurgency matters because it shows how weak democracy can push a political crisis into armed revolt.
Example
The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which wanted independence, led the early armed phase. Pro-Pakistan and foreign groups such as Hizbul Mujahideen later took the lead. From 1990 to 1996 the state was under President's rule (direct rule by the Union government), and the army was in effective control. Militants and army action both caused heavy violence. Most Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of the valley in 1989-90. Assembly elections returned only in 1996.
Don't confuse with
- Hurriyat Conference: an alliance of separatist groups formed in 1993 that led agitations. It is a political grouping, not the armed movement itself.
Related concepts
- Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front
- Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits
- Hurriyat Conference
- Greater State Autonomy